Constructing My New Composters

One of the bigger jobs planned for this Spring is the construction of a multi-composter.

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a dozen unwanted pallets, two of which were double size, and began the build one sunny morning towards the end of March.

Step 1: Creating the main frame of the composter, using one of the double sized pallets for the back, using standard pallets for the end and interior walls, screwing them into place through the back.

Step 2: Mounting the second double sized pallet into place for the top, screwing it down into the top struts of the end and interior walls.

Step 3: Stripping a couple of pallets back to its component parts, use the slats to clad the back.

Step 4: Covering the roof with a black plastic liner will provide basic waterproofing. We then used more of the pallet slats to secure the liner and frame the roof.

Step 5: We lined the middle section with black plastic to create a leaf mulching bin.

Step 6: Covering the roof with wooden slats, overlapping them slightly to allow rain to run off, has completed the initial build programme.

Step 7: Paint the composter with your chosen colour, mine was Cuprinol 'Rich Berry'

The Little People's Plot

After visiting a local model village, my two daughters wanted to have a miniature allotment on our plot, scaled down for their little hands, so we looked at the planting scheme for this year and agreed that one of the smaller raised beds would be perfect for them.

We began by making a scaled down decked area at the end of the plot, along with a fence...

Once we had completed the decking, I made a miniature shed, complete with opening doors,

The first time the girls came to the plot to help with the weeding and see how their seeds were coming along, they bought their Sylvanian Families with them.

Whilst the mum and children relaxed on the decking and in the shed, father mouse inspected the growing salad shoots and radish...

Sowing Seeds and Spring Sunshine

February saw warm sunshine and clear skies, with many of the allotment holders getting back onto their plots in earnest for the first time this year.

The rhubarb tunnel has done its work, with the first crop picked before the end of the month, and the first dig of the plot completed...

 The Rhubarb is looking good, planters filled with topsoil for planting, and foxes digging once again.

My little helpers have been busy on the allotment this Spring, mostly handing me tools and nails/screws as I need them. On the cooler days, Serena insists we have a flask of hot tea with us and seems to spend half of her time sitting in the shed, giving directions and sipping her brew...

The new little greenhouse has been erected in a wind free location alongside the shed, benefitting from long hours of sunshine we hope to nurture the early seedlings through the last cold nights before raising peppers and chillis in it through the heat of the summer months...
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New Year, New Goals, New Rules

After a few weeks away from the plot over Christmas and New Year, then back to the allotment to begin the early preparations for 2015...

With the Rhubarb starting to show new shoots, I embarked upon an experiment to try and force an early crop under a black plastic polytunnel. After edging the rhubarb patch with decking board, with a thin cover of wood chip, I added some tubing arches and a black plastic covering...

The idea is to keep the temperate up and let the rhubarb seek the light from small holes punched in the tunnels roof...

Just ten days after the tunnel was in place we had a surprise covering of snow, not something you get too often on the balmy Dorset coast... The site looked beautiful in the early sunlight, covered in a fresh white blanket...

The winter whiteness last just 12 hours and the following morning everything was back to normal...